The Glaciers of the Alps: Being a narrative of excursions and ascents, an account of the origin and phenomena of glaciers and an exposition of the physical principles to which they are relatedTyndall, John
Science
The Glaciers of the Alps: Being a narrative of excursions and ascents, an account of the origin and phenomena of glaciers and an exposition of the physical principles to which they are related
Tyndall, John
Alps -- Description and travel; Glaciers -- Alps
The sun had long shone down upon me with intense fervour, but I now
noticed a strange modification of the light upon the slopes of
snow. I looked upwards, and saw a most gorgeous exhibition of
interference-colours. A light veil of clouds had drawn itself between me
and the sun, and this was flooded with the most brilliant dyes. Orange,
red, green, blue--all the hues produced by diffraction were exhibited in
the utmost splendour. There seemed a tendency to form circular zones of
colour round the sun, but the clouds were not sufficiently uniform to
permit of this, and they were consequently broken into spaces, each
steeped with the colour due to the condition of the cloud at the place.
Three times during my ascent similar veils drew themselves across the
sun, and at each passage the splendid phenomena were renewed. As I
reached the middle of the mountain an avalanche was let loose from the
sides of the Lyskamm; the thunder drew my eyes to the place; I saw the
ice move, but it was only the tail of the avalanche; still the volume of
sound told me that it was a huge one. Suddenly the front of it appeared
from behind a projecting rock, hurling its ice-masses with fury into the
valley, and tossing its rounded clouds of ice-dust high into the
atmosphere. A wild long-drawn sound, multiplied by echoes, now descended
from the heights above me. It struck me at first as a note of
lamentation, and I thought that possibly one of the party which was now
near the summit had gone over the precipice. On listening more
attentively I found that the sound shaped itself into an English
"hurrah!" I was evidently nearing the party, and on looking upwards I
could see them, but still at an immense height above me. The summit
still rose before them, and I therefore thought the cheer premature. A
precipice of ice was now in front of me, around which I wound to the
right, and in a few minutes found myself fairly at the bottom of the
Kamm.
[Sidenote: GIDDINESS ON THE KAMM. 1858.]
[Sidenote: SCRIP LEFT BEHIND. 1858.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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